Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, in September 2017. The Ambanis of India superseded the Lees of the Samsung empire to become the richest family in Asia. (Photo credit: PRAKASH SINGH/AFP/Getty Images)

This story is part of Forbes' coverage of Asia's 50 Richest Families 2017. See the full list here.

Asia's wealthiest business dynasties remain successful by producing new generations that push the company in often surprising directions. But some scions have such an entrepreneurial bent that they're compelled to chart their own path away from the family firm, at least when they're young.

One example is 29-year-old Howard Sy, a grandson of Henry Sy, the founding patriarch of the Philippines' richest family. A former investment analyst at Macquarie, Sy started a 24-hour self-service storage company called StorageMart a year ago, anticipating that the country's condominium boom would create a demand for storehouses. With an initial investment of about a half a million dollars, it now operates two facilities in Metro Manila and boasts 100 customers. "It cost me my entire personal life savings ... plus three and a half years of my analyst salary," he told Forbes Asia.

Walter Bollozos/Philippine Star Lifestyle

Howard Sy, a 3rd generation member of the Philippines richest family.

The Sy family ranks No. 9 on our third annual ranking of Asia's wealthiest business families, with a fortune of $20.1 billion, up 57% in 12 months.

No family highlights this surge better than the Ambanis of India, this year's biggest gainer in dollar and percentage terms. Their net worth rose by $19 billion, to $44.8 billion, superseding the Lees of the Samsung empire to claim the No. 1 spot. That perch was always occupied by the South Korean family, which still saw its wealth swell by $11.2 billion. Shares in Mukesh Ambani's conglomerate Reliance Industries soared, due to improved refining margins and the demand produced by its telecom arm, Reliance Jio, which notched up 140 million subscribers since it launched in 2016.

Chairman of Samsung Electronics Lee Kun Hee with his wife Ra-Hee Hong during the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium on July 27, 2012 in London, England. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

For the third time India enjoys the biggest presence in the ranking, with 18 families. Hong Kong follows with nine this time. Among the six clans making their debut are the Chey family (No. 39) of South Korea's SK Group, widely known for its wireless service provider, SK Telecom. The other newcomers are the Yoovidhyas of Thailand (No. 22), the Sehgals (No. 41) and Wadias (No. 42) of India, and the Lees (No. 30) and Tungs of Hong Kong (No. 49).

The ticket to entry this year was $5 billion, some $1.6 billion more than in 2016. Some families couldn't keep pace: The Aboitiz clan of the Philippines and the Koos of Taiwan both fell short by small margins.

The list ofAsia’s 50 Richest Familiesis a snapshot of wealth using stock prices and currency exchange rates from the close of markets on November 3, 2017. Private companies were valued by using financial ratios and other comparisons with similar publicly traded companies. To qualify, a family’s wealth must be rooted in Asia and participation in building that fortune has to extend at least three generations.

Nearly half of the richest families in Asia are in China, yet none of 50 we ranked this year are based in the mainland, where conglomerates are young, run by first and second generations who were able to muster billions of dollars in wealth in an open economy.